Striking the Set

Today is Drama Girl's final performance in her play. Attendance at yesterday's matinee was dismal. Everyone on the planet is on vacation right now. My heart breaks for all 54 kids on the cast and their parents and all the hard work that has gone into putting on yet another enormous show.

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, because my child has 23 lines. Some kids have two or three. And for this, they rehearsed for hours every day all summer. We parents each put in 20-30 hours of volunteer time.

Why do we do it? Why not just say no to all these activities? Especially when her commitment means my commitment as well.

Because it's about love. Because when we have kids we get the whole package, whether that means driving them to ballet school 10x/week, or spending hours at the sewing machine making dozens of costumes for a community play, or being a scout leader. It's part of how we demonstrate our love.

Because it's about doing the right thing. When we were kids, school districts could afford P.E. and drama and all the "extras" that aren't available now. So we fill in the gap. Because we know there is a lot more to learn and experience than classrooms can currently teach.

I wont lie. I'm really glad her show is over today. I told her honestly I don't know if she can do the Fall show. Jungle Boy wants to do the Nutcracker, which will mean even more driving to rehearsals. The twins are starting middle school, which will mean a whole new landscape of homework for them.

Wasabi Girl ran to me after gymnastics class this week with a letter in her hands and a smile on her face; "Mommy! I made the team!" I had sudden flashbacks to all the workouts and the all-day competitions Jungle Boy used to have when he competed. I paused to think, and drew a breath. I had visions of the expense, the driving, the time involved. I looked her in the eye.

"That's great honey! I couldn't be happier! Congratulations."